1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head-protecting airbag apparatus mounted on a vehicle having three rows of seats.
2. Description of Related Art
In the prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-200959 is illustrative of a head-protecting airbag apparatus mounted on a vehicle having three rows of seats. This apparatus includes an airbag which is folded and housed in the upper edge of windows inside the vehicle, and is deployable to cover the interior side of windows when fed with inflation gas from an inflator. In the conventional head-protecting airbag apparatus, the airbag includes three shielding portions inflatable with inflation gas so as to cover the interior side of three windows each of which is located at the side of the first to third row seats.
In the vehicle having three rows of seats, the third-row seat is often unoccupied. When the third-row seat is unoccupied, the seat may be folded or put away to provide more loading space. When the conventional airbag having three shielding portions deploys while the third-row seat is folded up, however, if the third-row seat is so put away as to stand proximate to the interior side of window, the third shielding portion adapted to cover the interior side of a window located at the side of the third-row seat is likely to engage the folded seat, and therefore be hindered from smooth development. Moreover, this may affect the first and second shielding portions deployable to cover the side of the first and second row seats which are occupied by vehicle occupants, and result in hindering the smooth deployment of the first and second shielding portions.